Hardy Boys Mysteries - 031 The Secret Of Wildcat Swamp by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub

CHAPTER XIV

Underground Snare

catapulting himself out of the pit, Joe dashed down the slope in the direction Frank had taken. Chet and Cap hurried after him, despite the treacherous downgrade. With their flashlights stabbing the blackness, they finally reached the edge of the swamp.

Just then a flashlight beam was turned on Joe and a familiar voice called, “What’s going on? You guys sound like a stampede of water buffalo.”

“Frank! Was that you who yelled?”

“No. I thought it was one of you.”

“Must have been a wildcat,” Cap ventured. “They sometimes sound like humans.”

“Say, Frank, where were you going in such a rush?” Chet asked.

“To get that sign on the tree. I have an idea about it.”

With the others following, he pushed through 109

110 The Secret of Wildcat Swamp the dark swamp toward the gnarled willow tree.

“Keep an eye out for snakes this time!” Joe advised.

“Snakes? Are there snakes around here?” Chet inquired in a shaky voice. “This is a fine time to tell me! I’d have stayed back on firm ground.”

Joe laughed. “Oh, just little ones, Chet. The critter that tried to take Frank’s leg off last time we were down here couldn’t have been over six feet long.”

There was a low moan from the chubby member of the party, but rather than be left alone in the marsh, Chet kept right on with the others.

When they reached the tree, Frank pointed out the dangling sign to Chet. Then he yanked the weathered old board loose.

“I want to compare this with the piece of wood you found, Chet,” he said.

As they struggled back up the hill to the pit, Chet puffed and heaved. “You sure-make things-hard,” he said.

Joe was first to notice that something was amiss at the pit.

“Hey! I left my shovel right here. Where’d it go?”

“Everything’s gone!” cried Cap.

“The board too,” Frank said. “We’ve been robbed!”

“That cry was just a trick to get us away from here,” Cap declared. “Somebody wanted our tools.

Underground Snare 111

Put out your lights, boys. There’s no sense making class A targets out of ourselves.”

The four stood motionless in the darkness. Frank broke the silence by whispering that it would be hopeless to try finding the thief in the darkness, especially with so much cover for him everywhere. The logical move was to return to their camp site as secretly as possible.

The others had to admit that Frank’s suggestion made sense. By this time all of them

except Chet knew the route well enough to find it in the dark. Chet stumbled along between Frank and Joe. Reaching camp, they crawled into their sleeping bags, without making a light, and lay down.

“Now tell us about the sign, Frank,” Chet whispered.

“1 was going to try fitting the two pieces together. I think originally it was all one sign.”

“But that would mean it doesn’t refer to wildcats at all,” Chet pointed out.

“Right! It would read, ‘Here lie the bodies of twenty wildcatters!’ “

“Wildcatters has two Ts,” Joe reminded him.

“The second T could have been right on the break,” Frank explained, “and easily have rotted away.

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